Kerala Oppn leader to join SC case against Citizenship Amendment Act

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], Dec 13 (ANI): Leader of Opposition (LoP) Ramesh Chennithala on Friday said he has decided to join the case against Citizenship Amendment Act filed in the Supreme Court as it is against the Constitution.
"I have decided to join the case in the Supreme Court because this (Citizenship Amendment Act) is a violation of the Constitution. People of Kerala are against it," Chennithala, a Congress leader, told ANI.
Yesterday, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) also filed a petition questioning the legality of the Act.
The plea stated that the law should be struck down for violating the fundamental right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution.
Today, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra moved the top court seeking an urgent listing of her petition challenging the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Moitra's counsel sought an urgent listing of the petition following which the apex court asked them to go to the mentioning officer.
Two NGOs, Rihai Manch, and Citizens Against Hate, also filed a joint petition in the top court challenging the validity of the Act.
Fazli Ahmed, General Secretary of Jan Adhikar Party, approached the court seeking quashing of the Act by stating that it violates the basic structure of the Constitution.
The Peace Party has filed a writ petition against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the apex court.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which was passed by the Parliament earlier this week has now become the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, following assent from President Ram Nath Kovind.
According to the Act, members of the Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zoroastrian communities who have come from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh till December 31, 2014, and facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants, but given Indian citizenship. (ANI)